Just When It Seemed Safe To Watch The Tv, Howard Called An Election
The Sunday Age
Sunday September 6, 1998
IT'S only early in the campaign, but when you are in range of the TV and radio and you are being fed a slow-drip of election grabs, angles, gaffes and funny cut-aways, it's time to thank Kerri-Anne Kennerley for so far keeping her show relatively election-free.
You can usually count on Kerri-Anne to unleash her political analytical skills on Middle Australia at some time during election campaigns, but on Thursday she made do with another snippet of her interview with Madonna, in which she showed the confused singer a photograph of Channel 9 band leader Geoff Harvey and asked for a quick comment.
``Er, I think he should have his beard trimmed," said the struggling superstar.
Elsewhere, the election coverage action was hotting up. In a small case of intra-media pique, an announcer named ``Trace" on FOX-FM complained about not being mentioned by name by Laurie Oakes for an interview she had done with Kim Beazley. ``What gets me down is how much television stations think they're so much better than radio stations," whined Trace. ``Would it hurt them to mention it was FOX- FM?"
A teaser for Martin-Molloy on FOX touched on political advertising, in this case the Liberals'. The ads are what radio comedy teams dream of, because, as anyone who shares the memory of the Liberal Party's ad featuring Tony Sheehan glancing nervously from side to side will know, these ads are cruel, unfair, selective and embarrassing. In other words, perfect for an election campaign.
On Jon Faine's 3LO program, One Nation's Victorian convenor, Robyn Spencer, was commenting on the Democrats ad featuring babies of different races. ``The campaign the Democrats have announced is absolutely despicable," she fumed. ``It's racially based and so divisive. To me, it goes against the Ninth Commandment: thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." It was the first flash of anger for the day.
On 3AW, Neil Mitchell asks Jeff Kennett whether the Jeff factor will cost the coalition seats. ``That's sheer jealousy," says Kennett. ``Where has there been a more successful government in Australia than ours?"
On Jon Faine, Jan from Moonee Ponds is talking about Mr Howard's alleged hearing problems. ``I think Mrs Howard was serving a good purpose when she reminded us that her husband relies on a hearing aid," said Jan, ``and I think you can tell that now because he seems to turn off, he seems to endlessly talk and say what he has to say as if he's not listening to anybody else."
``I don't think it's got anything to do with his hearing though, Jan," said Faine. ``It's to do with the way he's conducting his various public engagements. When he's being interviewed, he is, like most politicians, he is more interested in saying what he wants to say."
On Channel 7's 11am, reporter Glenn Milne was talking about the Beazley bad-day thing. The stress over his staffer issuing advice about how to hack into the Liberal Party website was ``beginning to be reflected in his body language". Cut to vision of Kim Beazley rubbing his face, a visual gift for the ``poor Kim" overlay comments. ``Mr Beazley's on the back foot, again," says Milne.
So, now we've got besieged Beazley and pumped-up Howard. ``A pumped-up Prime Minister received news of Mr Beazley's latest woes while power-walking in Cairns at dawn," Milne said. Question is, what does it take to be described as ``pumped-up"? He's hardly Grant Kenny. What the Prime Minister was doing was walking. And listening to a mobile phone. According to the TV, this represents a huge adrenaline surge. But the pumped-up Prime Minister didn't get much of a go for the rest of the day. We had to make do with the power-walking grab on an endless loop until the Great Car Price Stuff-Up, which gave the media their nice ``gaffe" angle.
By this stage, Mr Howard had stopped walking and started tap-dancing. Out of trouble, that is. So, a bad day for politicians all around. We now have Mr Beazley's bad day, Ms Hanson's ``mad" cascading tax and shots of the Labor staffer driving off. Luckily for the media, everyone's having a shocker.
Over on Midday, it was an oasis of non-political light entertainment. Kerri-Anne Kennerley, in her fitted pink leather blazer, danced along to the band, prompting further admiration for the precision of Gina Riley's impersonations.
As the day wears on, a question arises about Pauline Hanson: Why is it that reporters feel the need to call her Pauline? On Channel 7, Anne Fulwood had a pre-announcement chat with Hanson live from Brisbane. They never call Howard John or Beazley Kim. Why this familiarity? ``Pauline," said Fulwood, ``what about the fact that Tim Fischer is wandering around in Queensland at the moment? Do you see any significance in that?"
No problems there, Hanson answered. Clearly the only problem she had all day was pronouncing the word ``Australia".
``I don't expect to be government by no means, but we're in there fighting," says Hanson of One Nation's electoral ambitions. ``I believe that Austrayans will give One Nation the vote in the Senate because they know that we are there to really make the Government accountable."
Lawrie Zion on 3LO talks about the ``aw shucks" interviews Channel 9 staff have done with the Prime Minister, including the 60 Minutes piece. ``That's right, you know, young students asking fairly gentle kinds of questions," political commentator John Shwartz says on Zion's show. ``On the Sunday night, the 7.30 Report had a special edition and apparently on the basis of that and a further interview with Peter Costello we now understand that the Liberal Party have said they don't want Kerry O'Brien to do the Great Debate ... and Ray Martin has again been nominated by the Liberal Party."
Shwartz touched on the media's handling of the Hanson phenomenon: ``The criticism of the media, and I think some if is really quite valid, is that there was an overplay, an over-reportage in relative terms of everything that Pauline Hanson was doing. A lot of that had to do with her own personality, her own style and the sorts of things she was saying, whether they were backed up or not backed up. There is a concern in some sections of the media that they themselves may have given her more prominence than she perhaps deserved."
Later on 3LO, Tonya Roberts was doing the ``whacky" party angle. ``To continue the tradition of bizarre political parties growing up in the time of elections I will introduce you to a member of the Rhino Party standing for the forthcoming federal election." Apparently, we were told, they need a swing of 107per cent.
A talk-back caller to Steve Price's afternoon show on 3AW has a lash at the people that television find to comment on the economy. ``It's ridiculous asking these people to make comments ... they don't have the formal education in economics to be able to analyse it in a rational manner."
``That sort of stuff's just tricks, Craig," agreed Price. ``It doesn't give you any real idea of what's exactly happening."
On FOX, Tony Martin and Mick Molloy are ruminating on One Nation: ``One Nation is like a film that hasn't come out yet," says Martin. ``Before Godzilla came out, the posters were good, the trailer was exciting, 'This is going to be great!' And then it comes out and it's just another film. And One Nation have been in the Godzilla position for months. They've been on the tour whingeing and whining and pointing, but the moment they release a policy - Bang! They are just another political party."
Molloy on the 2per cent ``cascading" tax: ``If it was a good idea, I'd suspect that maybe someone in the world economy, from countries far more advanced than us, and a far more powerful position MAY HAVE JUST STUMBLED ACROSS THE FRIGGIN' IDEA AT SOME STAGE IN THE PAST!"
As evening begins to fall, the political agenda has settled into One Nation's tax policy, John Howard's car gaffe and the Kim Beazley's hacker woes.
The all-powerful Nine News suggests that Kim Beazley has been ``embarrassed" by the hacker drama. Laurie Oakes on Mr Howard's ``stunt" with the car that went wrong. ``It's only a $40,000 vehicle. It's hardly a wealthy man's vehicle."
Oakes: ``But Mr Howard was left wrong-footed when it emerged the sign was actually on a $93,000 Land Cruiser, surely not something many average Australians would own."
``Well, I know a lot of average Australians who do," retorted an embarrassed Mr Howard.
Anti-nuclear campaigners up north were regarded, according to Oakes, as ``a minor irritant". And it's true. The demonstrations are slipping down the news list and barely rate a mention now. They've had their window on Tuesday morning. They're old news. Time for the media to move onto something else.
Over to Ray Martin on A Current Affair. He's talking to Pauline Hanson too. ``Pauline, thanks you for your time." Ray, what's the matter with ``Ms Hanson"?
``John Howard said he was excited by his GST, Kim Beazley said he was proud," Martin says. ``How do you feel tonight about yours?" Martin asks. ``I look upon it as a vision for Austraya," Hanson says.
Martin: ``Peter Costello says it's economic madness, the Australian Society of Certified Public Accountants say the Hanson tax plan would lead to the collapse of the Australian economy."
``Ray, well look, what I'm doing is, is ... I'm putting it on the table so that people can actually have a good look at it."
When people had had a good look at it on the table, they didn't like what they saw. And Martin persisted. ``You don't actually think that if it hasn't been tried somewhere else then maybe it won't work?"
Hanson: ``Ray, a lot of inventors in Austraya have had to go overseas because no one in this country would back them on their views and ideas, and you know what? We've lost a lot to overseas."
Huh?
Martin: ``Let's take an example, obviously you understand, fish and chip shop ..."
Hanson went on to explain which aspects of production in a fish and chip shop would be taxed. ``Ray, can I put it in perspective. It's two cents on every dollar, or $2 on every $100."
But Hanson shedding light on what twoper cent meant didn't help Australia's Friend. The concept of twoper cent was one that Martin was across. ``Yeah, I know," he said, just a twinge of irritation creeping into his usual insouciance. ``I understand."
ABC News was running with the gaffe line. Jim Middleton: ``Kim Beazley is off to an indifferent start, to say the least."
On the 7.30 Report, Barrie Cassidy walked us through Great Campaign Gaffes of our Time. ``In 1993, there were two. Paul Keating hoped this pie shop owner would attack the GST but instead he attacked Labor's policies. And John Hewson couldn't say what a birthday cake would cost after a GST. Well, here's the first faux pas of Election "98."
Into Howard and the $93,000 ``hardly a wealthy man's vehicle". By the second or third time you'd seen the footage, you're starting to wish Mr Howard hadn't approached the car quite so cockily.
``What they think the cars ordinary people buy are Range Rovers and BMWs," said the Opposition industrial relations spokesman, Bob McMullan, somewhat inelegantly. ``For most Australians, that's not even in their contemplation."
``Why do you engage in a bit of ad hoc envy politics?" Mr Howard retorted after confronted over his claim. ``I think there are a lot of people who regard themselves as battlers who use them."
Hopefully, these battlers will vote first on 3October before packing the dozen unwooded chardonnays in the boot and heading down to Portsea for the weekend.
``This campaign is not going to be fought and lost on the four-wheel-drive thing," Mr Howard told Kerry O'Brien, his eyes begging the host to change the subject.
For Kerry O'Brien, taking One Nation's tax policy apart was a little like shooting fish in a bucket. But at least as he asked Hanson about it, he looked bored instead of annoyed.
``Why does the Business Council of Australia think you are in Cloud Cuckoo Land?" he asked Hanson.
But like the politician she has become - ``I am a parliamentarian, not a politician" she said earlier in the day - Hanson is well-used to answering the question she wants to answer, rather than the one that's been asked. Nothing new there. It's Hanson's leaps and links that are going to be worth watching.
It's going to be a long, gaffe-rich campaign with lots of TV reporters running footage of the gaffe and then saying ``Not so ..." And it's only going to get better. Thankfully, Kerri-Anne weighed in on Friday with Peter Costello.
© 1998 The Sunday Age
